The present invention generally relates to a method of processing butter to form a light butter and other butter-based products. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of concentrating interfacial butter solids of butter, to a method of incorporating the interfacial butter solids in light butter and other butter-based products, and to light butter and other butter-based products that contain a concentrated amount of the interfacial butter solids.
Butter preparation methods represent some of the oldest techniques for utilizing fat components that are found in milk. Butter manufacture has been accomplished in one form or another for over 4500 years. Over the centuries, butter has been used in sacrificial worship ceremonies, for medicinal and cosmetic purposes, and as a human food.
Butter production techniques generally evolved into more sophisticated techniques as new forms and uses of equipment developed. For example, the barrel churn made its appearance toward the end of the 18th century when non-wooden manufacturing materials entered widespread use in creaming and butter making equipment. These advances led to advances in cream separation techniques, and by 1879, continuous operation cream separators were known in Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. Likewise, butter production evolved from an individual farm activity to a factory based technique with the introduction of milk pooling systems for creamery operation in the 1870s. Later advances in fat quantification techniques, pasteurization, refrigeration, and bacterial culture usage further advanced the art of butter production.
Advances in butter production technology helped make butter a staple item in the kitchen. Certain components of butter, such as interfacial butter solids, give butter-based baked goods properties that are not achievable by margarines and presently available butter/margarine blends. For example, butter melts somewhat evenly in the mouth to yield a smooth, rich mouth-feel that is characteristic of butter. As another example, the protein and lactose components of butter gives desirable browning characteristics to baked goods that incorporate butter. Also, the phospholipid portion of butter gives body to baked goods and gives the baked goods the characteristic rich flavor long associated with butter. Phospholipids, proteins, and sugars, such as lactose, are each components of interfacial butter solids.
Despite these highly desirable taste and baking properties associated with butter, butter consumption came under attack by nutritionists and the medical profession during the 1970s and 1980s because of links thought to exist between butter consumption and certain health conditions. Also, butter prices tend to be relatively volatile over the long term. These factors led to increasing use of butter substitutes, such as margarine and butter/margarine blends, that included fat sources in addition to, or other than, butterfat. These factors also led to formulation of reduced-fat butter substitutes, such as reduced-fat butter, low fat butter, and spreads with total fat concentrations of less than about 80 weight percent, to further reduce the amount of saturated fats and calories in the human diet.
In accordance with labeling requirements of regulatory authorities in the United States, such as the United States Department of Agriculture (U.S.D.A.), butter, reduced-fat butter, light butter, margarine, and spreads have particularized meanings. For example, under the U.S.D.A. definition, butter, reduced-fat butter, and light butter are made exclusively from milk and/or cream, though butter, reduced-fat butter, and light butter may each contain additional coloring matter and salt. Under the U.S.D.A. regulations, butter may not contain less than 80 weight percent milkfat (also referred to as butterfat); reduced-fat butter contains 60 weight percent milkfat, or less; and low fat butter contains 40 weigh percent milkfat, or less. Also, under the U.S.D.A. definition, margarine may be made from milk and/or cream, along with fat sources other than milk and cream, though margarine must contain at least 80 weight percent total fat. Finally, under the U.S.D.A. definitions, a spread may be made from milk and/or cream along with fat sources other than milk and cream, and may contain less than 80 weight percent total fat.
The meanings of “butter”, “reduced-fat butter”, “light butter”, “margarine”, and “spread” vary significantly between different countries due to varying regulatory requirements from country to country. Thus, while a particular material may be properly referred to as light butter in the U.S., it may be improper to refer to that same material as light butter in another country, and vice versa. Unless otherwise indicated, references made herein to “reduced-fat butter”, “light butter”, “margarine”, and “spread” are generally based upon the U.S.D.A. definitions for these materials for purposes of clarity and consistency, though it is to be understood that the light butter and other butter-based products, such as reduced-fat butter and butter-containing spreads, that may be produced in accordance with the present invention are not limited by any definitional or regulatory requirement(s) of any particular country or government entity, except as otherwise indicated subsequently herein.
Existing butter/margarine blends are typically based on butter, other fat sources, such as soybean oil; cottonseed oil, canola oil, and other types of vegetable oils; water; and emulsifying agents, such as monoglycerides and diglycerides. Margarines and spreads are typically based on various combinations of water and vegetable oils and may include or exclude butterfat, depending upon the formulation of the particular margarine or the particular spread. While margarines and butter/margarine blends generally have a fat content of at least 80 weight percent, reduced-fat butter substitutes, such as light butter, reduced-fat butter, and spreads have fat concentrations lower than 80 weight percent, that may range down to about 30 weight percent, or even less, for some reduced-fat butter substitutes, based upon the total weight of the particular reduced-fat butter substitute.
However, even existing margarines that include butterfat and existing butter/margarine blends that include butter do not yield the characteristic mouth-feel of butter and typically do not give baked goods the browning properties and body-yielding properties that are characteristic of butter. This is true even though numerous artificial butter flavoring compounds have been developed and incorporated into margarines and butter/margarine blends over the years. This loss of butter-like baking characteristics and mouth-feel is exacerbated further for reduced-fat butter substitutes that contain less than 80 weight percent fat.
Even though these alternatives to pure butter have helped to reduce the amount of saturated fats and calories in the human diet and have helped to stabilize the cost of supplying nutritionally necessary fat in the human diet, these advances have come at the cost of losing butter-like baking properties, such as the browning and baking characteristics yielded by butter, and the rich flavor and characteristic mouth-feel exhibited by butter. Thus, while still wishing to reduce the amount of saturated fats, total fat, and calories in the human diet, consumers, including household consumers and commercial baking concerns alike, long for an improved reduced-fat or light butter that accommodates health concerns about butterfat while achieving baking properties, mouth-feel properties, and flavor and taste that equal or even exceed those exhibited by butter.